I have been having this issue for quite some time and have been waiting for somebody else to bring it up or it to be fixed with newer versions but I still seem to be having it. I am running 15.2 and rather than using the library due to seeding issues and not being able to rename files, I have been happy with the metadata being displayed in the file browser (Videos > Files > Anime). The metadata (Posters, synopsis, etc) have always been displayed for me within this view when looking at all the anime folders whether they are in my library or not. However when installing any newer Kodi version (tried multiple times with 16.1) the data is not displayed from the file browser at all, despite viewing the tv show information all being there when i right click > tv show information.
This is easily recreated for me by installing Kodi on a new computer, adding the source to my NAS, using the anidb mod to scrape, and then looking at the different folders (I have each show in a different folder) and seeing blank metadata areas. I’d really prefer not using the library because I have been using this method for years and its as simple as adding a folder and scanning for content and it’s good to go; in addition, I seed my anime so renaming all of the episodes and folders would cause a lot of trouble. I am not really too concerned with the metadata of the episodes, i just like it visually organized when I am selecting something to watch. I have also tried making it so that empty folders are still viewed and tried several other things over the last several months to no avail. Any help is much appreciated, if you need any screenshots or information feel free to let me know but the scrapers are working fine, Kodi just does not want to display it on the file browser on both computers (one that has 15.2 installed and a fresh install of Kodi).